Mattress cover construction

ABSTRACT

A flexible, fire resistant mattress cover construction having a layer of padding material, one surface of which is covered by a layer of normally flammable cloth material and a layer of heat conducting metallic foil. The entire surface of the foil is bonded to the cloth material so that the foil is located between the padding material and the cloth material. The foil serves to prevent the flammable cloth material from bursting into flame when the cloth material is subjected to temperatures above the level at which combustion would normally occur by conducting the heat away from the location of application of heat to the cloth material.

United States Patent [1 Richards, Jr. 1 June 25, 1974 [541 MATTRESSCOVER CONSTRUCTION FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 Inventori CarlRichards, Grand 647,383 8/1962 Canada 297/D1G. 5

Rapids, Mich.

73 A Si e; Richards am Beddin Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg 1 S gneCompany,%rang RapidSFMich glttomey, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard &

nn [22] Filed: Mar. 13, 1972 y [21] Appl. No.: 234,043 BSTRACT Aflexible, fire resistant mattress cover construction having a layer ofpadding material, one surface of 5/345 5/347 which is covered by a layerof normally flammable E 58] d 355 cloth material and a layer of heatconducting metallic 0 297/DK; 5. 1 foil. The entire surface of the foilis bonded to the cloth material so that the foil is located between thepadding material and the cloth material. The foil [56] References cuedserves to prevent the flammable cloth material from UNITED STATESPATENTS bursting into flame when the cloth material is sub- 2,507,5865/1950 Berkman 5/347 jected to temperatures above the level at whichcom- 2,507,586 5/1950 Berkman 5/347 b tion would normally occur byconducting the heat 2,659,421 11/1953 Wass et al... 5/360 away from thelocation of application of heat to the 2,801,427 8/1957 Crooked 297/DlG.5 cloth material 2,840,500 6/1958 Okoomian et al. 297/D1G. 5 3,014,22612/1961 Wilfert 5/347 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUNZSIBH SHEET1 OF 2 at; w-

fizz FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a flexible, fireresistant fabric construction and, more particularly, to a flexible,fire resistant mattress cover.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There has been an alarming number of deathseach year caused by smokers falling to sleep in bed while having a litcigarette in their mouth or in their hand. After the smoker has fallento sleep, the cigarette usually falls onto the bedding igniting same,and thereafter igniting the mattress causing the smoker to be severelyburned, sometimes fatally. Many efforts have been made to make themattress covering fire resistant but the resulting fabric constructionhas not been entirely appealing from the standpoint of appearance andsalability. Further, the resulting fabric construction has beenexpensive to manufacture thereby resulting in a more expensive mattressconstruction and thereby diminishing the salability of the finalproduct.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide aflexible, fire resistant fabric which is capable of utilizing materialwhich would be normally flammable and, therefore, to thereby permit theuse of decorative fabrics which are appealing to the eye and enhance thesalability of the finished product.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible, fireresistant fabric which can be utilized as a mattress covering and whichcan withstand the temperature of a lighted cigarette laying on thesurface thereof without causing the normally flammable fabric materialto ignite.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flexible, fireresistant covering which can be used as a mattress covering and whichwill withstand the high temperatures of a lighted cigarette laying onthe surface thereof to thereby prevent an ignition of the normallyflammable cloth covering material even adjacent a thread pattern whichhas been utilized to provide tufts.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to personsacquainted with mattress constructions of this general type upon readingthe following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned perspective illustration of a mattressconstruction embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. I located by the circle "Atherein;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 1 similar to FIG. 2 and showing amodified foil construction;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 1 similar to FIG. 2 and showing afurther modified foil construction;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 1 similar to FIG. 2 and showing astill further modified foil construction; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line VI-Vl of FIG.1;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 6 and showing analternate edge connection;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 6 and showinganother alternate edge connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the objects and purposes of theinvention are met by providing a flexible, fire resistant, fabric havinga layer of padding material covered by a layer of nonnally flammablecloth material and a layer of heat conducting metallic foil bondedthereto so that'the foil is located between the padding material and thecloth material. The foil serves to prevent the flammable cloth materialfrom bursting into flame when the cloth material is subjected totemperatures at which combustion would normally occur by conducting theheat away from the location of application of heat to the clothmaterial.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The development disclosed hereinbelow arose out ofa need for a fire resistant material for covering the internal structureof a mattress. Accordingly, the follow ing discussion will describe thedevelopment in a mattress covering environment. However, it is to berecognized that the covering material can be used on other products andthe discussion pertaining to a use on a mattress is not to be consideredlimiting.

Referring to FIG. I, the mattress 10 has a covering 14 including aplurality of sidewalls, two sidewalls 11 and 12 of which are illustratedin FIG. I, a top wall 13 and a bottom wall not illustrated. Theconstruction for the top wall 13, as well as the sidewalls 11 and 12,comprises a thin mesh or netting 16 having padding material 17 disposedadjacent the outer surface thereof. The padding material 17 may be ofany conventional type, such as a cotton material or a foam rubber orplastic material to name a few. The outer surface of the paddingmaterial is covered by a laminated fabric construction 20 comprising asheet of heat conducting metallic foil 18 and a layer of normallyflammable cloth material l9 bonded to the outer surface thereof. Thecloth material 19 normally referred to as the ticking of a mattress, maybe secured to the foil 18 by any conventional material, such as anadhesive. The netting l6, padding 17 and laminate 20 are usually heldtogether by conventional stitching or tufting.

The foil 18 (FIG. 2) may be any conventional, thin and heat conductingmetal, such as aluminum. In one set of tests, the aluminum sheet had athickness of three-thousandths of an inch. However, thicknesses somewhatlarger and smaller than three-thousandths of an inch are believed to beacceptable. The foil, in a first embodiment, is relatively flat andsmooth as illustrated in FIG. 2. Alternatively, a modified form of thefoil 18A (FIG. 4) can be flat and smooth but having a plurality ofregularly spaced perforations 21, which may be fonned by a punching orperforating operation. The perforations permit the covering laminate tobreathe and thereby provide for air circulation in the space between theusers body and the laminate. This prevents perspiration. However, thediameter of the openings must be minimized to prevent enough air frompassing through the openings to support a blaze. In other words, theeffectiveness of the foil to prevent flames is not noticeably reduced bythe provision of regularly spaced or randomly spaced small openings inthe foil. The diameter of the perforations is preferably in theapproximate range of one sixty-fourth of an inch to oneeighth of aninch. In one preferred embodiment, the spacing between the openings wasabout one-fourth of an inch. However, it will be seen that the spacingbetween adjacent holes can be increased as the hole size increases whilemaintaining the same air flow capability through the foil. Also, it wasobserved that better flexibility was provided in the foil by using agreater number of small holes, provided that enough stock remained toeffect satisfactory heat conduction.

A still further modified form of the foil 18E FIG. 3) is crumpled orwrinkled so that it has a plurality of ridges 22 and crevices 23 and aplurality of randomly spaced openings 24 therein. The random nature ofthe openings 24 is caused by the process in which the foil 18B becomescrumpled and they occur where the foil is stressed beyond a tolerablelimit. Alternatively, a modified embodiment of the foil 18C (F IG. iscrumpled in the same manner as described for the embodiment of the foil188 in FIG. 3, but it has a plurality of regularly spaced openings 21Csimilar to those illustrated in FIG. 4.

The embodiment of FIG. 5 can be used when the process by which the foil18C is crumpled does not produce sufficient randomly arranged openingstherein, as with the foil 18B illustrated in FIG. 3, or where thespacing between the random openings is too great and additional openingsare desired.

The foil constructions 18, 18A, 18B and 18C are satisfactorily producedfrom an aluminum foil having a thickness of about three-thousandths ofan inch.

Preferably, the crumpled foil in FIGS. 3 and 5 is bonded to the clothmaterial 19 while the foil is still flat and smooth. This will assurethat the entire surface of the foil will adhere to the adjacent surfaceof the cloth. Thereafter, the laminated material can be fed between apair of pressure applying rollers, at least one of which is a texturedroller whereby the foil is effectively wrinkled. If desired, thetextured roller may also have pins thereon for perforating the foil assame passes thereover.

When it is desired to secure the top wall l3 (F IG. 6) of the mattresscovering 14, for example, to a sidewall 12, wherein both the top wall 13and the sidewall 12 comprise a netting 16, padding material 17 and alaminate 20, the two mutually adjacent edge portions may be fastenedtogether by an appropriate stitching 26. The meeting edge portions 30 ofthe top wall and sidewall may be further secured and protected by anelongated strip of laminated edging material 27 comprising an elongatedstrip of cloth 28 laminated to a strip of metallic foil 29, as in thelaminate 20 of the mattress covering 14. The foil 29 may be identical inthickness to the foil 18 on the laminate 20.

The elongated edging strip 27 covers the free edge portions 30 of thejoined top wall 13 and the sidewall 12 to prevent an exposure of thepadding material 17 to a temperature which is higher than thetemperature at which combustion would occur if the free edge portionswere exposed.

Other types of connections along the mutually adjacent edges of the topwall, bottom wall and the sidewalls of the mattress cover may beprovided as long as the padding material, which is exposed adjacent theedges 30, has a foil covering. For example, the conventional French seam33 (FIG. 7) has its adjacent edge portions tucked in and then stitchedtogether. Thus, the foil backing 18A on the laminate 20A of the top wall13A and sidewall 12A automatically permits both the cloth material 19Aand the padding 17A to withstand temperatures which are above thepermissible level, namely, the level at which the cloth and paddingnormally become combustible.

The conventional welted connection as (FIG. 8) can be used as long asthe welt cord cover has a foil backing 34. The remainder of thisconnection is substantially identical with the French seam.

The aforedescribed mattress covering is extremely effective inpreventing the normally flammable cloth material 19 from bursting intoflame when exposed to temperatures which are above a level at whichcombustion would normally occur if the foil layer 18 were not bonded tothe undersurface of the cloth. Bonding of the foil to the undersurfaceof the cloth material 19 not only diffuses heat quickly, but alsoprevents the development of an air pocket between the cloth material 19and the foil 18 when the combined materials are flexed. This preventsthe supply of a draft through the cloth and thereby prevents the clothmaterial from bursting into flames. instead, the cloth material merelychars if, for example, a burning cigarette is laid on the surfacethereof. The mattress cover construction described hereinbelow is alsovery effective in preventing the cloth material 19 from bursting intoflame at the location of tufting 31, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The mattress cover construction l0 may be assembled by utilizingconventional stitching which thereby avoids the expense of a specialmattress construction. It is unnecessary to treat the cloth chemicallyso that it is nonflammable. Thus, the cloth material 19 can be of anyconventional type normally used in present mattress constructions,thereby maintaining a more attractive appearance. Also, the metal foilbehind the cover cloth tends to make the colors more vivid in saidcloth.

A laminate 20 having the foils l8 and 18A, illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4,respectively, produces a sound when it is flexed. It has been discoveredthat this sound may be substantially reduced to an acceptable level, ifnot eliminated, by crumpling the foil according to the aforedescribedembodiments of FlGS. 3 and 5. The crumpled foil thus produces a moredesirable mattress cover from the standpoint of sound.

The flexible fabric mattress covering described hereinabove is veryefiective in preventing an ignition of the normally flammable clothmaterial 19 when a cigarette is laid thereon. The burning portion of acigarette is normally at a temperature of about 500F and it has beenfound that the metallic heat conducting foil bonded to the undersurfaceof the cloth material 19 serves to conduct the heat away from the areaat which the burning portion of the cigarette is in contact. Thus, thecigarette will burn up completely without causing the cover cloth 19 toburst into flame.

lt will be recognized that the concepts disclosed above can be appliedto uses other than mattress covers. For example, the foil in any of itsdisclosed forms could be laminated between the vinyl layer and the clothbacking layer of the fabric used in chairs, automobile seats and thelike.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognizedthat variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, includingthe re arrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the presentinvention.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclu- 1. Flexible, fireresistant and padded covering means,

such as for the internal structure of a mattress, comprising:

a first cover having a first layer of padding material, a first layer offlammable cloth and a first layer of heat conducting metallic foildisposed between said first layer of cloth and said first layer ofpadding material;

a second cover having a second layer of padding material, second layer'of flammable cloth and a second layer of heat conducting metallic foildisposed between said second layer of cloth and said second layer ofpadding material;

said first and second covers having parallel and coextensive edgeportions disposed directly adjacent one another;

means fixedly securing said edge portions of said first and secondcovers together; and

means externally overlapping said edge portions for making same fireresistant, said last-mentioned means comprising elongated channel-shapedstrip means extending coextensively with and overlapping said edgeportions, said strip means being a laminate and including an elongatedfabric strip having an elongated strip of heat conductive metal foilattached to the'surface thereof.

2. A flexible, fire resistant covering means according to claim 1,wherein the first and second layers of metallic foil are wrinkled.

3. A flexible, fire resistant, covering means according to claim 1,wherein said securing means includes first stitching; and

wherein said padding material and said cloth in each cover are securedtogether by second stitching.

4. A covering means according to claim 1, wherein said first and secondlayers of foil are substantially coextensive with and securely bonded tosaid first and second covers, respectively.

1. Flexible, fire resistant and padded covering means, such as for theinternal structure of a mattress, comprising: a first cover having afirst layer of padding material, a first layer of flammable cloth and afirst layer of heat conducting metallic foil disposed between said firstlayer of cloth and said first layer of padding material; a second coverhaving a second layer of padding material, second layer of flammablecloth and a second layer of heat conducting metallic foil disposedbetween said second layer of cloth and said second layer of paddingmaterial; said first and second covers having parallel and coextensiveedge portions disposed directly adjacent one another; means fixedlysecuring said edge portions of said first and second covers together;and means externally overlapping said edge portions for making same fireresistant, said last-mentioned means comprising elongated channel-shapedstrip means extending coextensively with and overlapping said edgeportions, said strip means being a laminate and including an elongatedfabric strip having an elongated strip of heat conductive metal foilattached to the surface thereof.
 2. A flexible, fire resistant coveringmeans according to claiM 1, wherein the first and second layers ofmetallic foil are wrinkled.
 3. A flexible, fire resistant, coveringmeans according to claim 1, wherein said securing means includes firststitching; and wherein said padding material and said cloth in eachcover are secured together by second stitching.
 4. A covering meansaccording to claim 1, wherein said first and second layers of foil aresubstantially coextensive with and securely bonded to said first andsecond covers, respectively.